


When the Spider met the Lobster

by me_midget (gin_tonic)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Community: samhain_smut, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-06
Updated: 2012-01-06
Packaged: 2017-10-29 01:30:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/314371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gin_tonic/pseuds/me_midget
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was the first Halloween party at Hogwarts that George attends after the war. He had counted on downing some drinks, plundering the buffet and scaring Ron, but he definitely hadn't expected to meet someone…</p>
            </blockquote>





	When the Spider met the Lobster

**Author's Note:**

> Many, many thanks to my beta, angela_snape, who always has time for me and my fics and puts loads of time and energy into helping me. Thank you! <3

It wasn't the first Halloween after the war, but the first that George actually let himself being talked into attending the Halloween celebrations for Hogwarts alumni. It had been McGonagall's idea – it had something to do with the survivors of the war, the fighters of Hogwarts coming together on a day that was not specifically linked to the war itself, and just letting lose. Of course Hermione was on the organizing committee from the start and Draco Malfoy had also become involved two years previously.

George, standing in a corner and sipping his punch, looked at the stage where the Weird Sisters were performing. McGonagall had probably blackmailed them to get them to come. Not that he minded – they played decent music. So far, though, he hadn't felt in the mood for dancing. He swayed slightly to the music and the six additional arms that belonged to his spider costume swayed with him. Ron had freaked when he'd seen George – that alone had made the evening worthwhile. He grinned to himself.

"Please tell me someone spiked the drinks", a red, many-legged creature to George's right said and George jerked a bit, slightly taken aback by what he hoped was a costume.

"There's already alcohol in them. A pity, since I was looking forward to spiking the punch." George grinned and held up a flask that he had smuggled into Hogwarts. He would have been prouder, had they checked his pockets upon entry, like the teachers had done when he had been a student.

The stranger held up his glass. "Spike mine. I fear I am not drunk enough to endure Astoria Greengrass' come-ons without running away screaming."

George topped up Many-Legs' drink and then did the same to his own for good measure. "Which one is she?"

Many-Legs nodded at what looked like a sugared-up tooth fairy on the dance floor. "That one."

George cringed in compassion and toasted with Many-Legs, before he took the time to look the stranger up and down. "What exactly is your costume supposed to be?"

"A lobster."

"Well." George cleared his throat. "It's certainly red enough."

Many-Legs snorted. "She already tore off one of my claws. And having just one looked just sad, so I took it off." There was a slight accent to Many-Legs' speech, something that sounded like it came from the Balkans, but George wasn't able to pinpoint it exactly. It sounded vaguely exotic and interesting enough to spend a while talking to the man.

"What are you planning to do about her then?"

Many-Legs shrugged and his costume moved with him. It gave George an idea on how his own costume would probably look like when moving like that. Perhaps they should stroll past Ronniekins, just for a laugh. "Get drunk and run away?"

"That's not the proper way to spent Halloween night at Hogwarts!" George paused briefly and thought back to his own Halloween celebrations during the years he had spent at Hogwarts. "Well, save for the drunk thing." Though he hadn't been during his first and second year. He and Fred had been busy playing pranks back then and hadn't had yet discovered the delights of spiked punch.

"I have not yet had the pleasure to celebrate Halloween at Hogwarts. In fact, I have not really celebrated it at all." George had meant to ask Many-Legs where he was from if he'd never had a proper Halloween, when Many-Legs mentioned something far more interesting. "I did, however, spend Yule here, once."

"You did?" George grinned. His absolutely astounding deductive reasoning told him that this mean that Many-Legs was either from Durmstrang or from Beauxbatons. Many-Legs really didn't sound French, and George had really, really liked how the Durmstrang boys had looked in their nice and tight school uniforms. Maybe tonight would be even better than he had hoped it to be.

"Yes, but that was years ago." Many-Legs smiled beneath tons of red make-up and his mask. It was weird, meeting someone like this, George found. You didn't know what the other person looked like, at least not really, but you still could get to know them.

So the spider and the lobster stood there, talking and drinking their spiked punch, slowly but surely getting tipsy, and observed the party.

"It's been a while since I was at a party like this," George admitted somewhere along the line.

"Why is that?"

"I lost someone during the war." He didn't want to elaborate. It had been hard to cope, but he was finally doing better. It didn't mean that he wanted to drag Fred into every conversation. Many-Legs didn't ask for details, though, which made George like him more. Many-Legs was quiet, but funny in the right way, and solemn when he needed to.

"I did not think I would come here," Many-Legs said then. "But I decided differently this afternoon."

"Hence the lobster costume?"

Many-Legs shrugged. "Everything else was taken."

George laughed and clapped his hand on Many-Legs' red back. "Mine was chosen on purpose to rile my brother up."

"Did it work?"

George nodded emphatically and scanned the crowd to see if he could spot Ronniekins in his Roman outfit. Instead he spotted Harry, who was dressed like a kitty – complete with twitching ears and tail – and, interestingly was chased by both Snape and Malfoy. Malfoy, who had insisted on wearing an angel costume (Harry had told George all about the frantic shopping for the right kind of angel costume) and looked ridiculous to George (Harry's leer had suggested that he had a completely different opinion about that matter) and Snape, who was dressed as, what Harry had termed, a Starbucks Barista. That wasn't the creepy part though – Snape was smiling all the time, which had unnerved George so much that he had quickly left the three of them to their own devices. Harry seemed to manage quite well, anyhow.

George turned back to Many-Legs and wondered what the man looked like under the costume. Was he fit and handsome or rather someone who needed to get out the dungeon and away from the Pumpkin pastries more often? George shook his head. He wasn't ready to find out, at least not yet. The night was still young and he would take this kind of fantasy date for a little while longer, before trying to find out more.

He fetched some more drinks and they ambled around the room. He admitted to Many-Legs that he could detect an accent in his speech. Many-Legs looked faintly embarrassed.

"I am from Bulgaria," he said and George high-fived himself for getting it right.

"Really? Have you been living here for a long time then?" They walked past the buffet that would have looked plundered if not for the house-elves' help. Finally he spotted Ronniekins standing next to McGonagall, who was trying to get Ron to dance with her.

"Only for about a year. I came here for a job, you know?" They had walked around the Great Hall once now and had ended up at exactly the same place they had met. "It was strange, leaving everything behind. But good. It's good, being here."

George nodded; he knew the feeling in a way. He had chosen to keep living at the flat over the joke shop – it had been his home, after all. It felt good being there, like it had a little bit of Fred still in there. His family hadn't understood. They had thought he was abandoning them – or at least to him it had seemed like they did. But he really couldn't stand living at the Burrow, rebuilt or not, anymore. "You got to live your own life."

"Exactly."

George downed his drink and held out his hand to Many-Legs. "Wanna dance?" He had to get away from the moulding thoughts before they got to him. Many-Legs took his hand and let himself be led to the dance floor.

"I must warn you. I am not a good dancer."

"Neither am I – or so I was told," George laughed and started dancing, arms flying in all directions. Fred and he had decided during their school years that 'proper' dancing was too boring. Dancing was meant to be fun, so they moved in a way that was fun. Many-Legs seemed to like it, because he grinned (George could see pearly white teeth in the midst of red make-up), and joined George in the arm-wiggling. Soon enough the other dancers learned to stay clear of them, but the Weird Sisters seemed to like their style, because they were cheered on and the songs got quicker and louder.

 

******

 

They were still laughing as they sauntered out into the courtyard. It was a surprisingly warm autumn night for Scotland and George wondered if McGonagall or Flitwick had had anything to do with that. The courtyard was empty, as McGonagall had just announced that a special cake that had been made for the occasion would be brought out into the Great Hall soon. Neither George nor Many-Legs were much interested in cake, though.

"You don't have a big family then?" George asked, after having told a story about how Fred and he had tricked Bill into bringing his first girlfriend a giant, dressed up frog for a Valentine's gift. She hadn't been exactly pleased, especially since the frog had been wearing a miniature version of her favourite dress. It had been quite exceptional spell-work on the twins' side to get that one right, but hexes that Bill had hurled at them had nearly not been worth it. Nearly.

"Well, I do have a brother and a lot of cousins, but my family is certainly not as big as yours. I don't consider it a bad thing though," Many-Legs quickly added. "Actually, I think it could be quite nice."

George shrugged. "Occasionally." He sat down on one of the benches and leant back. His costume was hot and itchy. "I can't wait to get out of this thing."

Many-Legs sat down next to him and looked at him for a long time, before saying: "I cannot wait either."

George didn't dare to turn his head out of fear he might have misheard. Many-Legs surely couldn't have meant that... After all, they had only known each other for a few hours now and they didn't even know what they looked liked beneath the costumes.

"I like mysteries, you know? I like a challenge."

This time George did look at him. "So you think I'm a challenge?"

"I think you are interesting."

"I'm not sure that's a compliment." George crossed his eight arms in front of his chest. Really, was he going to go there? Did he really want to find out what Many-Legs, with his weird compliments, looked like beneath the whole lobster thing? George got up and took a couple of steps away from the bench. Maybe he should just leave and file this experience, strange as it was, under a nice Halloween night.

A hand on his arm stopped him. Many-Legs had calluses on his hand. George could feel how strong this man really was, how determined. It was... intriguing and exciting, in a way. Not knowing who this man was, not even knowing what he looked like, even though he was standing right in front of him. In a way, being around Many-Legs was letting go of constraints and expectations. A shiver ran down George's spine and he bit his lip. How long had it been since he had let loose?

"Sit with me. Please." George let Many-Legs pull him back toward the bench, but didn't sit down, not yet anyway. He was slightly worried that Many-Legs would start spewing some romantic crap – because, really, they were blokes, it was Halloween and they were dressed as a spider and a lobster – but he didn't. "I did not mean to offend you. It's just… I like getting to know you even though you still present a mystery to me. It feels like you could hold back and hide who you are, just like we're hiding our bodies behind these costumes, but you aren't. And I like that."

George really could say the same for Many-Legs. He remembered past first dates and how he'd never really got to know the other person. Not that it had stopped him from going home with them or letting them go home with him. But still, there had been this barrier that he didn't feel with Many-Legs. Maybe it was because of the setting and the costumes, or maybe it was Many-Legs himself.

To be honest, George had always relied on looks as his first criteria to see if someone was attractive or not. It shouldn't be surprising, because secretly practically anybody did it, but occasionally he had got crap for this. He had never made a secret out if, either, because either you found someone physically attractive or not, and if you didn't then you usually didn't pursue anything more than friendship with them. He felt wrong footed at the thought of doing things differently this time, but then again if he didn't do things differently, then who would?

George sat down next to Many-Legs. They were still holding hands and it felt good. "Aren't you interested to see what I look like underneath this thing?" George asked. He wanted to be certain he hadn't misheard earlier.

"Oh no, I am. But…"

"Yeah, I think I get what you mean." George wondered what it would be like to kiss Many-Legs. Would the mask and make-up get in the way? He smiled a little at himself and just turned, tilted his head and kissed Many-Legs. Many-Legs' many arms pulled him closer and he parted his lips, his tongue dancing against George's. He tasted of punch, apples and whiskey – George moaned. He could lose himself in a kiss like this – hungry, yet not too hurried, like they had all time in the world and would spent it exploring each other. He wanted more, wanted Many-Legs to be closer, to feel his skin. They parted, their foreheads still touching.

"Let us just –" Many-Legs panted.

"I just want to –" They reached for each other at the same time, their open mouths meeting again. George had one of his hands on the back of Many-Legs' head, pulling him closer, moving until they got their legs to touch. He moved his free hand down to Many-Legs' crotch, but was blocked by the costume. "Bloody hell, I –"

"Let's get out of here." Many-Legs pressed a kiss to George's lips. "Your place. Mine is a mess."

George blinked. "Really?" He usually didn't do this so sort of thing, but he really, really wanted… "Okay." He took Many-Legs' hand and they hurried to the next fireplace to Floo away.

******

 

Once they landed in George's flat, they quickly stumbled into the bedroom. Somewhere between Apparating and landing on the bed, George managed to ask whether Many-Legs wanted a drink, but both of them had forgotten about that by the time they were pulling off their costumes.

George flicked his wand and the light went out in the bedroom. He wanted the magic of the night to last, to forget about appearances and expectation and just enjoy this whole thing. "Just to keep the mystery for a bit longer," he said and smiled against Many-Legs' mouth. Many-Legs laughed and kissed him, before finally losing his patience and spelling off their costumes.

Skin touched skin and it was glorious. Finally he could feel toned muscle and chest-hair and – dear Merlin – cock! They snogged and touched and fumbled until they were lying next to each other, alternating between kissing each other and gasping, as each of them had his hand around the other's dick, moving torturously slow.

But this wasn't enough – he needed more contact, more everything. Fuck inhibitions and fuck what-ifs. "Fuck me," he breathed. "Fuck me."

Many-Legs' breath caught, but George felt him nod and he summoned the lube and pressed it into his hand before getting up on all fours.

"So hot," Many-Legs breathed against George's back as he kissed his way down George's spine, making George tremble in anticipation. He pushed back and his arse touched Many-Legs' rock hard dick. Then a finger pushed inside his arse and George bit his lip, waiting less than patiently for another finger to join the first. He forced himself to keep his hands off of himself, fisted the blanket and moaned as three fingers brushed his prostate.

"Hurry," he moaned, because he could already feel himself being close. Many-Legs pushed into him and, after he let George adjust, started to fuck him, hard. Hips snapped back and forth, drove George into the mattress, his own dick rubbing against the sheets, while he cried out with every push.

"Fuck," Many-Legs shouted. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" He bit into George's shoulder, then his mouth was gone, his hips snapped again, hard and almost brutal, pushing George over the edge too, before he came.

George was still shuddering his release as Many-Legs sank down on him and kissed the spot he'd just bitten.

"Fantastic," George mumbled and Many-Legs grunted his agreement before they both fell asleep.

 

******

 

"GEORGE!!!" Ron's unmistakable yell had George flying from his bed and into the living room. While dropping on his knees to talk to his frantic brother, he thanked the Gods that he had somehow managed to pull on some boxers during the night, because really, no matter how open he was, he really didn't need to dangle his schlong in front of his brother's face. Even though there had been this incident with the elephant thong… George shook his head.

"What's wrong?" he asked, slightly worried. He hadn't seen Ron this frantic in a long time.

"What do you mean, 'what's wrong'?" Ron's frenzy turned into anger. It had always fascinated George how well you could see Ron's moods in his face. "You vanished last night!"

George blinked. "I did? Well. I left at one point. I didn't know I had to sign out or anything." He wasn't a kid, after all, and surely Ron wasn't his parent.

"But we arrived together and you haven't been to any parties," Ron trailed off slightly and it dawned on George where this outburst had come from. After all, he of all people knew he hadn't been exactly well these past years and the celebration had been at Hogwarts… He hadn't been to the corridor, though. He didn't need any reminders, because how could he forget. But he had realised a long while ago that Fred would have wanted him to rock on and not sit around and be a stick-in-the-mud, and so he did.

"I'm fine, Ron," George said with a small smile. More than fine, actually.

Ron's head nodded in the fireplace, then he stopped in his tracks and frowned at George. "Why are you red in the face?!"

"Huh?"

"There's red all over you! Is that blood?"

George touched his face and his hand came back stained red. "Huh," he said again. "No, that's just make-up."

"But you didn't wear any red make-up, how did you end up with –" Ron stopped mid-sentence, stared at George and pulled a face. "Never mind. I don't want to know."

George smirked. "That's right. It might destroy your childhood memories."

For a moment there Ron looked curious, but then he a grimaced again and shook his head. "You can give me the G-rated version later."

"No can do, baby brother. It's PG or nothing." George laughed as Ron flipped him off and ended the Floo-call. He got up and slowly walked back into the bedroom, for the first time seeing who as lying there in his bed. Viktor Krum – Viktor bloody Krum – was lying in the middle of mussed up blankets and pillows, one sleepy eye looking at George.

"Are you going to come back to bed?" Krum asked and suppressed a yawn. George stared and waited for the shock to give way to pleasure – it didn't exactly take very long – then he smiled. Viktor bloody Krum, who would have thought? And who would have thought that Krum could be this nice, this amazing and this fucking fantastic in bed?

George considered a shower first to wash off the make-up, but since Krum's face was equally messy he didn't much care. Maybe he could convince Krum to have a shower together later, he thought as he crawled back into bed. But first he would sleep and be lazy and lounge in the afterglow of one of the best Halloweens he had ever had.

 

The End


End file.
